Matt McIlwain the Only Seattle-Area VC on New Forbes “Midas List”

Share

With March Madness officially over, Forbes is feeding the thirst for some statistical gamesmanship with its latest “Midas List,” an attempt to rank the country’s top 100 venture capitalists. The Seattle area has just one entry on the list: Madrona Venture Group‘s Matt McIlwain, at No. 75—in fact, there were more women in the rankings than people from the Puget Sound region. Forbes cited, of course, the huge $2.25 billion purchase of Isilon Systems by EMC, along with the 2008 acquisitions of World Wide Packets and Farecast.

The Forbes rankings are based on both data and subjective factors. You can check out the full methodology statement, which acknowledges “blind spots” in record-keeping. Shorter version: They analyzed exits of $200 million or more during the past five years for venture-financed companies in the U.S., Europe and Israel (Asia will be part of a separate list). That data also was weighted, for example giving higher scores to earlier-stage investments, and an expert panel chimed in with some less mathematical judgments.

I’d think that with a five-year timeline, we might see more local VCs mentioned, but maybe the dollar threshold is the key. Please feel free to register any complaints with the methodology, oversights, or general displeasure with this particular bit of media click-bait in the comments. Also, prepare for a horrifyingly intrusive rollover video ad on the Forbes site.